When Emma and I first met, I was only seventeen. I was her first experience with a daughter-in-law, and I'm sure she was challenged by having a temperamental teenage girl around. We both had to find our way in this new relationship. There were ups and downs, but in the end we developed a true affection for each other.

Ron and I lived right across the street from Emma and Eli in Torrington, so she and I spent a lot of time together drinking coffee at her kitchen table and talking. I've forgotten the actual conversations, but I got to know Emma well, and I'll always remember those female bonding sessions while the men were in the garage working.

She doted on her sons. They meant the world to her. When the boys were little, Eli and Emma drove to Calgary every week so they could take music lessons... Hawaiian guitar for Ronnie, and the fiddle for Vernie. Then sometimes they'd go the rest of the way to Banff, to the Hot Springs.

She loved to cook. It seemed like Ron and I were always eating meals in her kitchen. She cooked awesome German dishes, and other things that nobody else made, for instance, a special kind of deep-fried meat pie... and then there were dough gods. Emma herself wouldn't sit down and eat... she'd hover...serve up more, going back and forth to the stove...and she'd ask, "Does it taste OK? Is it too salty??" I'm sure the boys considered it their duty to give her suggestions on how she could improve her cooking, as they usually did, even though to me everything was extremely tasty. Emma and Eli even had a little hamburger stand at Kiever's Lake for a few summers, and those hamburgers were the best!

This I DIDN'T see...and I wish I had....Ron and Vern convinced Emma to try waterskiing. Once. Unfortunately, most of the distance she covered on skis was under water!

The Scheurers loved to have fun. We played cards... sometimes just the immediate family...but often there were other people around too. Like Emma's and Eli's sisters and brothers, who they were close to... they and their spouses and kids got together as often as they could. And then there were friends of Vern and Connie, and friends of Ron and I, and they always felt welcome in Emma and Eli's home.

Emma loved music. We'd all play various instruments for hours on end, and sing our hearts out. I can still see Emma sitting on the edge of her chair with her accordion while she sang and played, "This Land Is Your Land". She also played polkas like "The Ragtime Polka"...and waltzes too, like "The Danube Waltz." Ron and Emma harmonized to songs like "Dear Brother" and "Home Over There" from the time Ron was very young.

Eli would sing a whole repertoire of his own special songs, some in German. The lyrics to one of his songs referred teasingly to "Fat Emma" and that always sent us into fits of laughter while she acted self-righteously injured, and that made it even funnier. She wasn't fat, of course...it was all in good fun.

Emma loved flowers. She had such beautiful flower gardens.... she explained to me the difference between perennials and annuals, told me the names of different flowers and plants and gave me advice on growing them.

I know that becoming a grandmother was one of her greatest joys. She was so willing to help with the babies, and she loved them so much. I knew I could count on her, always. I'm pretty sure that she and Eli were thrilled to have two grand daughters, as they had raised two sons. She loved to sew our little girls matching frilly dresses and make a fuss over how pretty they were.

After Ron and I moved away from Torrington to Red Deer, Emma and Eli were always there when we needed them to take over our crazy suburban life when we wanted to get away on vacation without the girls. They'd move in, look after Rhonda and Joey... and the house... and the two little dogs. They'd take the girls to school and pick them up... take them to dancing lessons and do whatever else was necessary. We were so lucky to have them.

Our door was always open to Emma and Eli. Having them with us was as natural to me as having my own parents there.

When Eli passed away so unexpectedly in 1980, it was such a shock. It affected Emma's life drastically. But she was separated from him only temporarily, because I know they're together again.

After Ron and I divorced, Emma carried on as a wonderful grandmother to Rhonda and Joey, and although I rarely saw her, I knew I could still count on her to help with the girls when I needed her.

In her later years, I know Emma took great comfort in her sons, new daughter-in-law, Heather, and granddaughters. Heather gave her wonderful support in the last several years with errands, shopping and housekeeping.

I wish I'd made a point of saying thank you to Emma for everything she did for me while I had the chance. However, I didn't...maybe none of us did...so I'd like to say it now.

Thank you, Mom...Grandma.... you'll always have a very very special place in our hearts.